I'm NOT a dumb person...but I have my moments.

I'm on break this week. There is no school, there is no work for me to do, there is nothing.... I'm bored!

So, today I decided to cleaned up my apartment a little bit. Take out the recyclables, take out the compost, clean up the dust.

I bagged up the recyclables, I tied up the compost, I piled everything up near the door to prepare for my trip down to the parking garage. Now, there are some things you should know about my apartment building. I live in a pretty modern building. It has an elevator, it has a ramp for handicap people, it has a sliding glass door that you need a card to swipe against this little reader plate thing in order to get into the building... it's pretty special.

Anyway, I decide that, because I'm just going down 6 flights and using the elevator, I don't need to put shoes on, and I don't need my key because I'll be right back... nothing will happen in the 5 minuets its going to take me to make this trip down to the parking garage. So I grab everything at once (about 7 bags total) and head out the door, barefoot and without my key or swipe card thingy.

No problem, I've got it all under control! I get down to the parking garage, push the button to open the sliding glass door, run out to dump the stuff where it needs to go... bounce around a little bit because my feet (which, remember, are bare) are FREEZING and then run back to the AUTOMATIC SLIDING glass door that you need a card to open!

I don't have my card on me... remember?

I don't know if I mentioned... I'm barefoot, remember?

The door automatically slides shut after a few moments...

You need a card to get into this building, and remember, mine is in my room. I've helped people out with this door before. I've opened it for a couple of people before who have forgotten their cards.... I remember on guys (a British man) had been waiting for over an hour before I came along... he had shoes on though...

So there I am. Barefoot, no card, no coat, no phone, just me and the cold, cold cement ground with a door that is almost all the way shut....

I won't tell you what I said; it wasn't pretty. But, I managed to stick my arm inside the building before the door closed all the way. The door shut on my arm, but then popped back open again. I will tell you that my heart was beating unusually fast the entire way back up to my apartment... where, there whole time, I reflected on how dumb of a move I had just made and how badly that could have turned out for me if I wasn't blessed with catlike reflexes (again, thank you God and Dad for passing along some good genes)!!!

I'd like to think I'm a person who has more common sense than that... perhaps I just had a dumb moment; we all have those moments, right...RIGHT???

Anyways, no making fun!

Peace out!

Oh Happy Days!

Over the Christmas holidays...(it was actually only one day of vacation...but a good day!) I spent the time with my friends from IWE church! We all gathered at Rachel and Trevor's apartment and many of us spent the night. I was among the many who stayed overnight and because of this, it was requested of me that I bring a pillow.

Now, I have 2 pillows here in Korea. One is a body pillow that I somehow managed to bring from home, and the other is an average sized pillow that was provided for me when I arrived. I attempted to take the average size pillow with me.

Now, I say attempt because I failed to take the derned pillow all the way to Rachel and Trevor's apartment. I had two very heavy bags and a big pillow. They live an hour away... there were many people traveling. I had to ditch the pillow in the subway! I almost cried... I liked my pillow!

Today, after a LOOOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGGGGG day at school, I went out to dinner with some of my adult students. I always enjoy meeting with my adult students. They are so generous and fun. Tonight was no exception. We started the night off eating a LOT of food (most Koreans insist that I eat everything in sight and then worry that I didn't get enough! They have this thing about eating enough food.... I think it's a throw back from war times for them) and ended the night with a few drinks.

Hay, the funniest of my adult students, likes soju (Korean whiskey) a lot! She had three shots and then after a while she declared herself "drunken!" They all watched excitedly as I tried my first shot.... needless to say, they weren't disappointed... I hated it!

Towards the end of our evening, Hay brought out a box that she had been keeping next to her during the whole night. It was a Christmas gift for me. I was so surprised! Koreans don't really celebrate Christmas... it's a very small holiday for them... like Halloween... or Valentines Day.... and especially for Hay, she's not a Christian so it means even less to her. I was so touched!

Inside the box... was a pillow. *Sigh* How good is God! How good are my friends here in Korea! There is some Korean writing on the pillow. When pronounced in Korean, it says "Mely Cureesumasu Helalee. Hayyeon (Hay)" Which means, Merry Christmas Hilary, Hayyeon (Hay)!

My heart is so full!

My Days are Chaos

On a normal day, I leave for work at 8:10a.m. Today I woke up at 8:00. Fortunately, I'm a quick dresser... a fast decision maker about my attire for the day. I wasn't the only one either... the Korean teacher in my row, Jang Mi Suk, also woke up at 8:00 today. I beat her to school... she walks.

I arrived at school at 8:30. On Wednesdays, I normal teach 1-5th period, however, today I taught 2-6th periods. I think most other teachers only had 3 classes... I feel overworked and underpaid.

After classes, I had about a billion students coming to my desk for interviews. I'm teaching a winter camp in January and I need to level the students that are going to attend... hence my interviews... it's amazing how long it takes these students to answer 5 questions!

Then, I taught some English to Jang Mi Suk... she's very interested in learning the language. I'm excited to be teaching her. It's when I teach people like her that I know teaching is truly my calling... I get so much pleasure from seeing people "get it!" I love it when I have students that are excited about learning!

Then, I went to the bank with Kong Changok. I HATE going to the bank! I didn't even realize how much I hated it until I went today... I kept sighing and groaning. I wanted to get OUT of there as fast as I could! I always feel so dumb and helpless. And, there's always some kind of complication when we first get started... today it was about not sending more than 10,000.00$ home for one year. Ok, ok, I GET it! Now let's move on!

Finally, I came home. If there is one thing that I've learned about Korean women since I've been here... they are so slender! Even after they have kids, they have nice trim bodies and they look so fit and healthy. So many of my co-workers and co-teachers have children and are so slender! I wish I had a Korean woman's body frame!!!!

Ok, that's all for now! Love you ALL!

Hil

Getting Home

I'm 23 years old. Sometimes I feel like a 23 year old... I feel very young and inexperienced, but there are other times when I feel like an old woman.

I feel like an old woman sometimes because my body doesn't like to squat for long periods of time without protesting...
Also, I don't like to drink much. I mean, I'll have the occasional drink with a meal or with friends, but I'm just really not into it. My co-teachers and my adult students want to take me out drinking... they're all in their 40's... I'll probably go out with them, but I don't really want to drink all that much... what's wrong with this picture???
Today my adult students looked up the word "conservative" and told me, "Hilary, this is you." I think they meant it as a compliment... I think.

Also, sometimes I'd much prefer to stay at home and read a book rather than do anything else. Seriously. I think this is a BIG flaw for a person my age... I mean, I can't think of a single thing that shouts "NERD!!! Look at Hilary, the big NERD!" louder than my repeated desire to just stay in and read... but I don't care!

BUT, here's why I feel like a young woman: I just spent the last hour in my apartment eating salt and vinegar chips, watching The Office online and dancing around my apartment to the music of Anberlin. I'm not patient enough (and I don't care enough) to make myself a proper meal, so a persimmon and the salt and vinegar chips were it.

And there real story... how I got home on Saturday night!

Saturday night I was in Myeong-dong with Jessica hanging out at Trevor, Rachel and Ruda's Tlace. Jess, Ruda and I watched the last episode of Season 3 of The Office and it was big deal... so we had to stay and finish the whole thing. Therefore, it was about 11:30 before we left. Now, some things you should know about Seoul is that the Subways and bus lines close down at around 12a.m. I HATE this. It feels like I have a curfew! Jess and I were bookin' it trying to get home, but we only made it as far as Seoul Nat'l University. This wasn't too bad... only 2 subway stops away from my place... but over 4 miles of walking in the bitter cold on a Saturday night just didn't appeal to me or Jess. So, our options were to catch a cab or bus.

There were a few obstacles. First, the road was packed with people trying to catch taxi's and the bus. Our chances as 2 foreigners for catching either of these modes of transportation was severely limited. Dang language barrier is a PAIN IN THE BUTT! Not to mention discrimination... but I'm not going into that right now!

Now, there was one bus line still running and fortunately for us, this bus would take us right to my apartment... however, there were about 50 other people waiting for the same bus and most of these people were VERY determined looking ajumas!

Jess and I had a conversation that sounded a little bit like this...
Me: "Ok, we have to be rude!"
Jess: "I am not afraid to hit people in the face!"
Me: "Hahaha! Oh man! Look at all of these ajumas waiting out here!" There was a particularly big and fierce looking ajuma right in front of us "Let's stay behind her and she'll get everyone out of the way for us!"
Jess: "Yeah, she looks scary!"

BUT, after waiting for about 10 minutes (it was a LONG 10 minutes!) the bus still hadn't come and Jess decided that we should cross the street, try to catch a cab over there, have it make a U-turn and go home that way. I thought this was a bad idea. I knew that as soon as we left the bus stop area, the bus would come and we would miss it. On top of that, I doubted that we could catch a cab on the other side of the street that would be willing to make a U-turn.... However, there was no guarantee that we would make it on the bus either and it certainly wasn't coming...

So, we went with Jess's plan due to my indecisiveness (Jess has this thing about being indecisive... if you're indecisive and she's sure about what she wants to do, then you do what she wants to do... I actually think it's a good system). So across the street we ran (we ran because there were cars coming and we didn't want to die).

As soon as we got to the other side of the street -- the bus came. ARGHH!!! I KNEW that would happen! And, of course there was no cab in sight! But then I had a brainstorm! I thought, if we run, we can make it to the next bus stop before the bus does! So, before I even consult Jess on the idea, I start running down the sidewalk to try and find the next bus stop! I shouted back to Jess what my plan was as we were running... how's that for decisive! HA!

And, believe it or not, we made it. After bobbing and weaving along the sidewalk in order to avoid pedestrians and another death defying scamper across the street, we made it to the next bus stop before the bus came! YES!!!

I was so excited! At this bus stop there were only 2 other people waiting for the bus. I was so happy that we made it and that my idea worked! But, then the bus came rolling down the street....

Picture, if you can, a large city bus. There are about 26 seats and standing room for about 40 people. Now picture the same bus packed so full that there are people literally smashed up against every window. I never knew so many people could squeeze themselves into such a small space. There were probably at least 100 people on the bus. The bus is slowly rolling towards the bus stop and it is so packed that it's leaning heavily on it's right side. I mean, if this bus driver takes a right turn, even just a little sharp, it's GOING to tip over. As cold as I was and as much as I needed to get home, I was relieved when the bus driver refused to stop and let us on!

But, DANG IT! What now?

Then, after we watch, in awe, this bus roll down the street past us, Jess patiently suggests that we try the whole "catching a cab on the other side of the street" thing again and get home that way.

Ok, fine. We're out of options. So, again, we scuttle across the street (still death defying... for some reason we just couldn't catch the traffic lights at a good time... always a little late so we had to run for it!) and right before our eyes a free cab appears. But, there's a man heading right for it!

"No, no, no, no!!"

The man pops his head into the cab, asks something and then walks away!

"YES!"

We hop into the cab and ask "Nangok Ipgoo kyo?" (This basically means, will you take us to Nangok street, which is the street that I live on)
Cab driver, "Nango Ipgoo?"
Me, "Nae!" (Yes)
Cab driver, "Ok!"
Me and Jess, "YES!!"
Me, "Good idea Jess!"

And we make it home! It was quite an adventure. I loved it. It was a rollercoaster of emotions... I think the crescendo being when the man walked away from the cab and our cab driver didn't rip us off and actually did make a U-turn and take us home the right way!

*Sigh* Not so old after all. I just like to be young in different ways than most people expect, I guess. Like, acting like a total idiot when fully sober! It's much for fun that way!

God is good
All the time
All the time
God is good!

Peace out!

Hil

Oil Spill

There was a massive oil spill over here about a week ago. It happened on the West coast of Korea in the Yellow sea. I hear that it's the worst oil spill in the history of Korea. I also hear it could take up to 30 years for it to completely clear out of the water and for everything to return back to normal.

I was invited by one of my adult students to go help clean up some of the damage today. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was happy to help!

We left at 7:30 a.m. Bright and early in the morning! Soyeon and I were both so tired we slept most of the way. When we arrived, the smell of oil was very strong, but it wasn't obvious where it was coming. We all had to climb into these gray jump suits that made us look like a family of bears... or Oompa Loompas. We also had to wear masks, rubber gloves and rubber boots. After we were all decked out, Soyeon and I couldn't stop laughing at ourselves. We looked ridiculous, and it was hard to move.

After finally gearing up... we walked down to the beach and got to work. It was some of the most tedious work I have ever done. It is fortunate that most Koreans are VERY good at squatting for long periods of time because that is how one had to be positioned for the majority of the time spent there. I, however, am not that good at squatting. My back starts to hurt as well as my knees and just about every other joint in my body... so now I feel like a big knot.

The tide was out while we worked and our job was to collect as much oil off of the beach as possible. This was done by shoveling up the oil directly off of the sand and also soaking the oil up from the water using these square spongie thingies.

I spent most of my time squatting down next to Soyeon on a patch of beach raking the oil off of the sand with a tiny little spade shovel. It was tedious. I also helped strategically place and lay out the square spongie things that soaked up the oil... but that's about it. I was definitely expecting something a little more physical or involved... but, after a while, I started to realize the magnitude of what had happened...

Oil is a strange and powerful substance... and imagine a HUGE tanker dumping every last bit of its oil out into the sea. The sand was just saturated with the oil and without help from people like Soyeon and all of the people who went today, it would NEVER go away. The work is tedious, but that's why it's so important that people are willing to do it. The oil was just everywhere. There was no escaping it. After about 5 minutes, the shovel I was using was completely covered in oil. If I licked my lips, I tasted oil, if I smelled my hair, I smelled oil. I just wish good things could be as pervasive as oil is. It just gets into everything and it doesn't like to come off!

After about 41/2 hours of work, it was time to call it a day. We waddled back to the bus, took off all of our gear, climbed on the bus and almost immediately fell asleep. Even though the work wasn't as physical or strenuous as I was expecting, it was still tiring.

It was so great to be able to help out with something like this. It was like going on a mini missions trip while in Korea. I loved being able to help, I just wish I knew how to speak Korean! I think one thing I'm learning while living here is how to appreciate silence. I definitely talk a LOT less than I did before. Silence is a good thing. I appreciate being with people and being comfortable in the silence.

Here are a few pictures of the oil spill sight!

Love you, miss you, praying for you!

Hil

This Post is Dedicated to Kong Changok

I would like to dedicate this post to my co-teacher Kong Changok.

Here's why:
This teacher, despite my best efforts (at the beginning I didn't like her and I thought she was pushy), has looked around, made room I didn't know was there and plopped herself a place in my heart. If I had one person who I can count on, one person I look to as a sort of "Korean Mom" she is that person!

Now, let me tell you a little story! Yesterday, we only had a half day of school because of finals. I asked Kong Changok if she would help me at the post office and then we planned to go out to lunch together. So, the lady drives me to my apartment to pick up my packages, drives me back to the post office, helps me figure out what to do at the post office (actually, she did everything while I stood around and looked dumb) and then takes me out to lunch. I actually paid for lunch, which I had to do by stealing the bill and running up to the cash register before she could get there! THEN, she takes me out to a coffee shop and then to a movie! Wow!

I love this woman! She and I really connected last night and it felt like I was hanging out with my aunt or something like that.

Then, today we had an English teachers meeting. UGH!! Now, there are 8 English teachers, including me. And, I have talked to all of them and feel fairly comfortable with all of them. But, I think that a few of them are afraid of me. I sat with Kong Changok, Yu Mikyung and Han Jeongah for lunch. Those women seem to like me and don't seem to be too afraid of me... so lunch was nice.

BUT THEN... we went for coffee. And, we had a meeting. I had a lot to say, I have strong opinions and ideas about what I want. Unfortunately for me, the meeting was held in Korean! SO FRUSTRATING!

It's interesting. Even though I didn't understand a word of what was said, I knew what was going on. I could sense it. It makes me wonder how much of communcation is language, how much feeling connected to someone has to do with language.... but anyways. The teachers had to decide who was going to teach what grade. Now, if the teacher is going to be a 7th grade teacher, then they are going to be my co-teacher. So, the teachers need to really consider if they want to teach with me, if they are prepared to give up half of their classes for me to teach, if they are willing to work with my ideas and communicate with me about class and school and everything else that should go into co-teaching! I knew, even before going to this meeting, that Kim Seonhee and Lee Kyeonhee teacher would want to teach 7th grade. However, these two are the worst candidates among all of the Korean English teachers because... Kim Seonhee doesn't speak much English and Lee Kyeonhee... doesn't do much at all!

I could feel Kong Changok and Yu Mikyung fighting for me. They tried. Kong Changok told me afterwords that she told the other English teachers that whoever taught with me needed to be people that could communicate well with me... they didn't take the hint. It's ok. I like Kim Seonhee's co-teaching style. She's a good co-teacher. And, I'm used to Lee. I also gained a new co-teacher, Kim Heeyeong. I'm really excited to work with her. She's so sweet and a hard worker. But, my classes won't be leveled, and I'm not sure how much I'll be working with each teacher. I hope it's at least the same amount with each teacher...

But, the thing that really has me worried... the thing that I'm really disappointed about is that I'm no longer connected to Yu Mikyung or Kong Changok in any concrete way! Before, because they were my co-teachers, I had a great excuse to talk with them and seek them out. Now, I don't! And, on top of that, Kong Changok's desk will move next year! If she moves to the other building, I seriously think I'm going to cry! I kept telling her tonight after the meeting that I didn't want her to go. I wanted her to stay near me. I was trying to express my dependancy on her without sounding too pathetic, but I don't know if I succeeded... I think she just knows now that I look at her like my Korean Mom! *Sigh* I'm such a baby!

Ok, well, this is a long post! I hope you're all well! Love you, miss you, praying for you!

Hil

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Shout out to my Dad... Happy 49th!

It's been an extraordinary week. I had speaking tests with my students and today through next Tuesday are finals. EASY and I get to go home at 12! YES!

So, despite my students fear of speaking to me, their bad breath, and my sleepiness, we got through all of the speaking tests. For the most part, I was pleased with their performance. Of course, I learned that a few of my students can't even read, one of my students smokes, and most of them don't brush their teeth, but hey, no one is perfect!

I had a fabulous day on Wednesday. I only had to teach two classes. One class was my highest level class that I teach with Yu Mikyung. By Tuesday, I was already done with my speaking test for this class and so I was able to play a game with them. It was a board game where all the students had to do was make a sentence using the past tense of the word that they landed on. It went SO well! All of my students participated and were getting SO into the game! My co-teacher was amazed with how well the game was working! I was so pleased!

Later on that day, Mikyung came to my desk to ask me some questions about English. She was reading an article and needed some clarification on some points. It was a little difficult to explain to her what a second and third cousin was, but we got it figured out! After that, she sat and talked with me for quite a while. She really opened up to me. And, in a way, apologized for her mood swings. It was really nice.

Then... after lunch, another English teacher came over to my desk and started chatting with me. I found out, after a while, that she isn't a Christian, but she's slightly interested. I really like this teacher. She is so good, so genuine and sweet. I talked with Inji (Inji is a Christian) about it afterwords, and we both agree that she would be a great Christian. I hope she finds some interest in the faith soon. She seemed slightly open to it when I brought the topic up!

Then, on Wednesday evenings, I always have bible study. Some weeks, this is the highlight of my whole week! It's always great to be able to met up with people who can really relate to what I'm going through and share our lives and experiences together. It was a small group this week, but it was still good! Posted below is a picture of most of the members of my bible study!

From right to left, back to front, Trevor, Will, Nate, Rachel, Jess, Me, Jess, and Alicia.

Trevor and Rachel are married. Nate and the Jessica in front of me are married. Trevor, Rachel and Alicia are from Canada. Nate and Jessica and Will are from Tennessee and, of course, Jess and I are from good ol' Indiana!

Today was also a good day, considering that I was able to leave school at 12 and take a much needed 3 hour nap! It was glorious! Tomorrow promises to be a good day as well!

I hope you are all as blessed as I am. I love you all, I miss you all!

Hil